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Bursicon, the tanning hormone of insects: recent advances following the discovery of its molecular identity

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Abstract

Bursicon was identified in 1965 as a peptide neurohormone that initiates the tanning of the insect cuticle immediately after the shedding of the old one during the final stages of the molting process. Its molecular identity as an approximately 30 kDa bioactive heterodimer consisting of two cystine knot proteins resisted elucidation for 43 years. The sequence of the two bursicon subunits is highly conserved among arthropods, and this conservation extends even to echinoderms. We review the efforts leading to bursicon’s characterization, the identification of its leucine-rich repeat-containing, G protein-coupled receptor (LGR2), and the progress towards revealing its various functions. It is now clear that bursicon regulates different aspects of wing inflation in Drosophila melanogaster besides being involved at various points in the cuticle tanning process in different insects. We also describe the current knowledge of the expression of bursicon in the central nervous system of different insects in large homologous neurosecretory cells, and the changes in its expression during the development of Manduca sexta and D. melanogaster. Although much remains to be learned, the elucidation of its molecular identity and that of its receptor has provided the breakthrough needed for investigating the diverse actions of this critical insect neurohormone.

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Notes

  1. The bursZ1140 mutation is a tyrosine to a cysteine change at residue 63 (TAT to TGT) and not a change from threonine to cysteine at position 97 as stated in Dewey et al. 2004.

  2. We will refer to the bilateral cell pair in the ganglia of theVNS of different insects as Cell 27/IN704 (homologs) throughout. For a definition of cells 27/704 see also Mesce and Fahrbach (2002).

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Acknowledgments

The identification of partial peptides of P. americana bursicon was only possible due to the relentless help of many undergraduate students at Vanderbilt University, who dissected thousands of nervous systems for bursicon’s purification. We are indebted to many colleagues for evaluating appropriate chapters of the review and adding unpublished data. They include Dr. P. Braunig, Dr. A. J. Hsueh, Dr. S. Muthukrishnan, Dr. J. E. Natzle, Dr. Y. Park, Dr. S. G. Webster, Dr. B. White and Dr. J. H Willis. Research from our labs was supported by NSF grants (HWH and JE) and FONDECYT grant 1071079 (JE).

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA

    Hans-Willi Honegger & Elizabeth M. Dewey

  2. Centro de Neurociencia, y Centro de Genómica Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaiso, Valparaiso, Chile

    John Ewer

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  1. Hans-Willi Honegger
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Correspondence to Hans-Willi Honegger.

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Honegger, HW., Dewey, E.M. & Ewer, J. Bursicon, the tanning hormone of insects: recent advances following the discovery of its molecular identity. J Comp Physiol A 194, 989–1005 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-008-0386-3

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